Materialism
by CheatingAtMonkeyBall
Summary: In her relationships, Regina had never been one to care for presents and material gifts from her significant other, but there is one priceless item that has followed her through her two true loves. Daniel x Regina, Swan Queen. High school and college AU. Super sappy.


Regina sat under the bleachers staring at an empty car lot with her first boyfriend. She and Daniel had met as sophomores and had managed to date throughout the entirety of their high school careers, and Regina thought that maybe she could spend the rest of her life with this man she had loved for two and a half years and known for three. "Hey, Gina," Daniel mumbled suddenly, distracting her from her pleasant reverie and bringing her back to the perfection that was her current situation.

She looked up at his warm eyes that she could describe for hours. She squeezed the hand she had been holding for hours now and could remember the first time they held hands. She beamed even brighter as she finally understood that she was always remembering these events with Daniel because she was so happy with him in the moment that she couldn't process it. "Yes, Daniel?" she responds, staring right at him.

He shuffles his feet in the dirt underneath them and rubs the back of his neck with his free hand before giving her a lopsided grin. "Well, I brought something for you." Regina raises her eyebrows because she hadn't expected a gift. In the two and a three-fourths years they had been together they had only ever gotten each other presents that one Christmas he spent with her family. The two of them both just knew that it didn't matter the material possessions they gave each other but rather the memories and company. Whatever something Daniel had he must keep very close to his heart. "Here," he says, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a simple gold band.

Regina stares at it with wide eyes for a moment, afraid it might disappear or burst into flames if she touched it. Finally he reaches out and places the ring on her finger; her lips part in awe. It's a simple ring, nothing but a gold band, but it's Daniel's. It was Daniel's, and he wants her to have it. "Regina, I know we're about to graduate soon, so we might be spending a lot less time together what with jobs and college and who knows. I just want you to know that I'm always thinking about you." He squeezes the hand that he had adorned with the gold band. "That's why I got you the ring. You can wear it all the time - it's weather resistant so even when you shower or go swimming - so you can just look down and know that someone cares about you."

Regina bites her lip to keep it from trembling with those words. She knows it goes beyond not seeing each other so much; it's about not being there when they need each other. Daniel had been Regina's rock for the past three years when her mother became too much, and now he might not have as much time for her. The ring indicates that it isn't because he doesn't want to be there for her. She looks back up from the hand she had been staring at since he slipped the ring on and stares into his eyes. "I love you, Daniel."

"I love you, too, Regina," he says without a beat. He leans in and kisses her, and she shivers at how amazing it feels to love someone so much and for them to love you too. She clenches her ringed hand into a fist as if to hold onto the moment longer. Eventually they pull apart and with a contented smile go back to sitting under the bleachers together doing absolutely nothing.

It's a Thursday when she finds out, the fifth Thursday of the summer. Cora barges into Regina's room unannounced and beams at her daughter. "Regina, darling, I have wonderful news!" Regina looks up from her journal and beams at her mother. She and Daniel had actually gotten to see each other that day, and now her mother had wonderful news? It must be her lucky day! "You have been accepted into Boston University!"

Regina furrows her brow and shakes her head. "Mother, I'm going to Storybrooke College." With Daniel, she adds in her head. She doesn't even notice how tightly she is gripping her pen.

Cora shakes her head determinedly and just grins at her daughter. "No, I opened your letter and already phoned them to say you'll be attending. Isn't that wonderful?" Regina's jaw almost drops to the floor, and her hands begin to shake. This was not part of her perfect plan for her happily ever after with Daniel. Boston was hours away and in a totally different state.

Cora seems to sense her daughter's despair over the situation and gives Regina a stern look. "Regina, Boston is an amazing school. Getting your MBA there can open so many doors for you." Regina glances down at her ring, and even though she's crying she doesn't dare look away. "What do you think happens to children who go to Storybrooke College? They don't amount to anything! Don't you want to be happy?"

"I am happy, Mother!" Regina snaps suddenly, looking up with a furious glare. "I don't want to be anything special; I am who I am. Shouldn't that be enough?" It was for Daniel, she thinks sadly as she rolls the ring around on her finger.

Her mother does not share the idea and frowns at Regina. "Well, I was only trying to help you. A simple thank you would suffice." Cora goes to leave her daughter with this life shattering news before turning back. "You should probably email the counselor at Storybrooke College and tell them you'll be going elsewhere. Or I'll do it for you."

As soon as Cora closes the door Regina grabs her cell phone and dials Daniel's number. He picks up after the third ring with a mumbled "Hello?" Regina can't see anything through her tears, but his voice alone is enough to calm her a little bit. He seems hyper aware of her deep breathing on the other end of the phone and asks unsurely, "Do you want me to come over?"

"Yes!" Regina chokes out before he even finished the sentence, and she heard the line go dead as she knows he is on his way. Unfortunately this is not an unusual occurrence, but her relationship with Cora has never driven her so blind with rage.

Daniel arrives in less than five minutes, small town and little traffic, and knocks on her window. Regina opens and jumps out into his arms. He gives her a warm hug and only pulls away when she stops shaking so much. "What happened, Gina?"

"I'm leaving." The words spill out so fast and so easily, perhaps because she doesn't believe them yet. "My mother's making me go to Boston for college. We won't be able to see each other." Her head is whirring again, and he rubs her shoulders to try to get her to stop shaking again.

Finally Daniel kisses her long and passionately, and for a shimmer that moment lasts forever. She's crying instead of shaking now, and he pulls away to stare at her. Regina notices there are tears in his eyes as well. He pulls his hand through her wild brown hair and sighs. "Regina, you love me, right?" She nods and cups his face gingerly. "Then I need you to do something for me."

"Anything," she breathes, his request sending adrenaline through her system. She is ready to drop everything and run away with him at that very moment - the two of them on the run somewhere far away from her mother and Boston, perhaps Tallahassee - and have their happily ever after. They deserve that much, right?

His words crush her imagination though as he says, "Leave me." It's such a shock that she almost trips while standing still. Didn't he love her? "Regina, when you're in college, out there, I want you to be free. I want you to be happy." She widens her eyes because doesn't he realize that she feels all these things with him? Right now, even sad and crying and frightened she's free and happy and in love. "You can't do that if you're waiting for me your entire life."

Those final words make more tears form in her eyes, but surprisingly she isn't shaking with fear. After all the time she's spent investing herself, her soul, her heart into Daniel she has to suddenly find a way to live without him. His request was ripping her heart out. "But how?" she whispers, raising her ringed hand up to wipe at her eyes.

Daniel gives her a sad smile and cups the hand to her face. "I know you can do it, Regina." She leans in and kisses him, and they kiss for as long as they possibly can. When they pull away she begins to fiddle with his ring. Regina's eyes suddenly widen as she realizes that breaking up with someone entailed returning their items. "Keep the ring," he says before she can vocalize her question. "Just because I can't be with you doesn't mean I'm not thinking about you. Besides," he says with a sad chuckle, "I will always love you, Regina. Even if we have to move on, I will always love you."

The first month of school in Boston is a blur, and she is just certain that her roommate thinks she's a sociopath. Regina has spent most of her time in the dorms studying or doing homework or writing or anything other than being an actual person. Suddenly Mary Margaret, her roommate, marches assertively over to her side of the room and crosses her arms defiantly. Regina looks up with an almost annoyed scowl, a question in her eye - what had she done? Mary Margaret won't take the bait though, so Regina sighs and asks, "What?"

Mary Margaret cracks a grin because that might have been the first word Regina had spoken to her all week, but she suddenly realizes that she's defiant. "Regina, it is not healthy for you to trap yourself in here." Regina is about to roll her eyes at the girl's concern when she continues, "One of my friends wanted to hang out, and I told her you would come with us. No arguments; you're coming whether you like it or not."

Regina shoots a dark and intimidating glare at her roommate that ultimately leads to a heated staring contest. Mary Margaret doesn't back down this time, so Regina finally concedes. "Yes, Mother," she mumbles irritably and stands to get dressed for a night out. What do college kids wear again?

As soon as Regina is done scraping a brush through her now tame short brown hair there's a knock on their dorm room door. Mary Margaret smiles as Regina emerges from the closet and goes to answer the door. "Hey, Emma!" Mary Margaret says cheerily and makes way for the girl to come in.

The first thing about Emma that Regina notices is her golden curly locks and how they cascade down her shoulders and over her red leather jacket. The second thing she notices is her lopsided grin and how it somehow follows her voice as she says "'Sup?" to Mary Margaret. When their eyes meet, there's a smile in those green eyes as well, but there's something else Regina can't decipher. "You must be Regina," Emma says assuredly, reaching a hand out to greet the brunette.

Regina takes the hand cautiously and nods at the blonde, not looking away from those piercing green eyes. "It's nice to meet you."

Throughout the night Emma tries every trick in the book to get Regina to talk to her. She asks about family and sports and studies and even make up, but the short haired brunette didn't seem to want to open up. Mary Margaret goes to the bathroom, and they are left in an awkward silence. Regina begins playing with her fingers on top of the table, and Emma notices there's a gold band on her hand. "Hey," the blonde announces to get Regina's attention, suddenly having an idea, "I like your ring."

Emma watches as Regina's face crinkles into something that almost looks like a smile and almost looks like a grimace. "Thanks," the brunette says in a dismissive tone, but it also sounds daring. It's as if Regina didn't but also did want to talk about whatever secret that ring held.

Emma smiles and reaches out to get a better look. At first Regina flinches away, but Emma's eyes widen in reassurance. The brunette eases her hand forward to let Emma take it and study the familiar gold band. It had changed a total of five noticeable shades of gold in the past few months that she had not seen Daniel, and she tried everything to keep it shiny. "Who gave it to you?" Emma asks, twirling the ring around Regina's finger.

Regina's shocked; she's never let anyone touch her ring before. Emma's question hits home, and she swallows hard. "No one," Regina says with a waver in her voice that Emma doesn't seem to pick up on.

The blonde is just glad that she thought of this topic; this is the most Regina had spoken to her the entire night. "No, this ring was a gift. Did some lucky boy give it to you?" Regina pulled her hand away suddenly and looked down. She shakes her head so vigorously that Emma doesn't even think that it's in response to her question. "Some lucky girl?" Emma tries.

Regina looks up, and Emma can see that the question struck a nerve. She's about the backpedal when the brunette says, "Someone did give it to me, but we were not so lucky." Before any other words can be spoken between the two Mary Margaret comes back and joins them with her infamous cheery smile. Regina retracts back into her shell.

Now a senior at Boston University, Regina Mills walks around the quad with her first girlfriend of three and a half years. Emma is babbling like an idiot about people she notices or classes she's taking, and Regina feels so content that it's scary. Emma swings their arms as they walk holding hands and suddenly stops and looks at Regina with a lopsided grin. "What?" Regina asked but can't help but return the grin.

"Nothing," Emma shakes her head and turns back to continue walking, "I just wanted to look at you." Regina's cheeks flush at her words even though Emma had already done the same exact thing five other times that day. Regina inhales deeply and stares down at the hand she had been holding for about three hours now. Had they really been walking around for that long?

Regina couldn't understand how this had happened, how she had fallen in love with the adorable goofball that was Emma Swan in only three years time. It must have started two weeks after they first met when they next saw each other. Emma had asked for Regina's number so they could keep in touch and only five seconds later sent her the music video to "Call Me Maybe." Now they're here, and Regina loves her. She doesn't know how it happened, and she hadn't wanted it to happen. Honestly, Regina is still scared to death that fate had destined her to be lonely and unhappy forever, and it was only a matter of time before someone stole Emma away too.

"Hey Regina," Emma says, squeezing the girl's hand and getting her attention. Regina looks at her and raises an eyebrow. Emma's wearing the widest grin Regina had ever seen, and Emma suddenly whispers, "I like your face." Emma's giggling madly after she says it, and such a childish declaration has never made Regina's heart soar more.

Regina knows though that that is Emma's special way of telling Regina that she cares about her. Their relationship had not been built on grand gestures and sappy love poems; in fact their relationship hardly verbalized the extent of their emotions. Regina both loves and hates this. She loves it because she could know that Emma loves her without having to admit it to herself. If Emma never actually said it, it didn't have to be real. If it wasn't real, it couldn't be taken from her. She hates it though because she never knows exactly how Emma feels about her. Regina knows deep down that she loves Emma with every bit of her heart - even that bit that still belongs to Daniel - but never says it because she doesn't know to what extent Emma "likes her face."

They approach a bench, and Emma sits on it, dragging Regina into her lap. "My legs are so tired, babe. We've been walking for hours." Regina is instantly comforted by Emma's arms around her and sighs in contention. Emma feels the release of breath and laughs, "What?"

Regina turns to look at her girlfriend and gets lost in her sharp jade eyes. The sight takes her breath away, and she fiddles with her fingers without looking away. Regina's fingers rub against the ring she still wore. Her eyes widen as she suddenly completely realises what Daniel meant when he gave this to her. He loved Regina so much that he would do anything for her. All those cliches and emotions that they talk about in the movies were the closest to describing what Daniel had felt when he gave Regina the ring… and what Regina was feeling in this moment looking at Emma. "I have something for you," Regina says finally, her heart racing.

Emma watches as Regina pulls back just enough to tug the ring off her hand. Emma's eyes widen in realisation of what her girlfriend was doing. In almost four years, Emma had never seen Regina without that ring. "Regina, what are you-" but when Regina shakes her head Emma's words catch in her mouth.

Regina pulls off the ring that was still clean from the care, and holds it up in front of Emma. The brunette stares at the ring that hadn't left her finger in years. "The only other person I've ever loved gave this ring to me." Emma bites her lip to stop herself from gasping, and the blonde doesn't even realise she's holding her breath. "His name was Daniel, and he told me that it was a symbol that… that he was always thinking about me and that he cared about me." Regina then looks up to lock eyes with Emma. "I want you to have it."

Emma gasps so suddenly and loudly that Regina looks concerned for a moment. Emma catches her breath and blinks incredulously at her girlfriend. "You've had that ring for as long as I've known you," she mumbles and glances between the ring and Regina. "I… I couldn't take it. It means a lot to you."

Regina smiles at the blonde's simple statement. "So do you," she says in response. Emma doesn't say anything, but her heart may or may not skip a beat. Regina opens Emma's hand and slides the ring on her finger. "Before I left for college Daniel told me to move on. He told me to be happy." Regina looks down at the ring that now sparkles on someone else's hand, and it looks more stunning than it ever had before. "I think he would want you to have it because…" Regina takes a deep breath and smiles at the blonde, "you make me happy, Emma."

Emma studies the ring without moving her hand, and honestly she's scared it might disappear if she looks away. She looks up at Regina who looks like she wants to say more but can't find the courage. Something terrible must have happened between Daniel and Regina that made her so afraid. Emma reaches out to cup Regina's face and beams. "I love you, Regina."

The brunette melts into Emma's touch and cups the blonde's ringed hand that rests on her face. "I love you, Emma, so much," Regina whispers, a smile in her voice and eyes even as her lip trembles. Emma pulls Regina in to kiss her, and their lips press tenderly against each other until they pull away, breathless. They don't even realize that it was turning dark out.


End file.
